Carrickmacross (Irish: Carraig Mhachaire Rois, meaning "rock of the wooded plain") is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town and environs had a population of 4,925 according to the 2011 census, making it the second largest town in the county.[1] The town won the prestigious European Entente Florale Silver Medal Award. It is a market town which developed around a Castle built by the Earl of Essex in 1630. The Convent of the St. Louis Nuns now stands on the original castle site. The local Gaelic football and hurling club is Carrickmacross Emmets.The local soccer team is Carrick Rovers

Carrickmacross is well known for the attractive lace bearing its name. Carrickmacross lace is worked in an individual style, devised by Mrs Grey Porter, wife of the rector of Donaghmoyne, who introduced it in 1820. When she left the district the teaching of Carrickmacross lacemaking was continued by Miss Reid of Rahans, but it was only after the 1846 potato famine, when a lace school was set up by the managers of the Bath and Shirley estates at Carrickmacross as a means of helping their starving tenants, that the lace became known and found sales. Subsequently the lacemaking declined, but in the last decade of the 19th century the Sisters of St Louis founded their own lace school to revive the craft, and this was quite profitable for several years.[3] Although the outbreak of the 1914–18 war marked the virtual end of commercial production of hand-made lace in Europe, the lace school kept the technique alive throughout most of the 20th century. In 1984 the St Louis Sisters assisted in the formation of The Carrickmacross Lace Co-operative, which maintains the tradition to this day. Its lace may be purchased at The Gallery Centre, where demonstrations of lacemaking may also be seen if arranged in advance.[4]

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One of the most imposing buildings in the town is the Roman Catholic church which was completed in 1866. Of particular significance in the church are the ten beautiful stained-glass windows which were designed by the renowned artist Harry Clarke in 1925.

Magheross Church, located on the outskirts of the town, is of historical interest:[5]

Other buildings of note include the Courthouse and the restored Poor Law Union Workhouse:[6]

Grave of Patrick Byrne (1794–1863) who was the last major exponent of the Gaelic harp and the first Irish traditional musician ever photographed.

St.Josephs, which is situated near St. Macartans Villas is an all-boys school, it was run by the Patrician Brothers but they no longer run the school.

Bunscoil Lughaidh Naofa which is in Cloughvalley is an all-girls school, was run by the St. Louis nuns who came to Carrickmacross in 1888.

Scoil Rois is the Gaelscoil in Carrickmacross. It is a mixed school who recently had a new school built situated across from Bunscoil Lughaidh Naofa having moved from the Convent Avenue.

Secondary schools

The Patrician High School (PHS for short)[8] is one of three secondary schools in Carrickmacross. It was set up by the Patrician Brothers. It was situated next to the Church on O'Neills street, the building is now the scout hall.In 1970 they moved to Rockdaniel Rd but have more recently had a €4,000,000 extension. They have constantly produced great football teams through the years. It has approximately 350 pupils in attendance.

Inver College: Inver College[9] called the TEC by students and townspeople due to its being a technological school, is a mixed school situated on the Castleblayney Rd. It has approximately 400 students from all surrounding parishes of the town. They recently open a new GAA pitch which was officially open with a Dublin v Monaghan Senior Friendly match. Inver College won the U16 VEC GAA County Championship for the second consecutive year in January 2011.

St. Louis Convent: The St. Louis Convent is an all-girls secondary school set up by the St.Louis nuns in the 19th century. The school was set up in honour of St. Louis (Louis IX of France). The motto of the school is Ut Sint Unum which is Latin, meaning 'that they may be one'. These words were supposedly spoken by Jesus Christ, the Christian Messiah, at the Last Supper (John 17:21).

There are five stages of the story of the Sisters of St.Louis in Ireland: Fleur-de-Lys is the emblem of the French Royal House of Bourbon and St. Louis, their main Patron belonged to it. The French words Dieu le Veult, means 'God wills it' and was the battle cry of the Crusaders. Louis IX (St. Louis) led a crusade to the Holy land in the 13th century. The sword signifies the Crusades, but is positioned to show the cross-like shape of the hilt. The Crown of Thorns was believed to have been found by Louis and brought back to France. The Tower is part of the coat of arms of Monaghan town, where the first Irish St. Louis convent was established in 1859. The red hand represents the Red Hand of Ulster, an ancient symbol of the province, in which Monaghan town is situated. It is situated on the Convent Avenue.

Carrickmacross town council elects 9 members and is responsible for the provision of local services. At the last local elections in 2009 three members were elected from Fine Gael and two each from Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. It forms part of the five seat Carrickmacross Local Electoral Area for elections for Monaghan County Council.

In February 2010 the town council voted 5:4[14] to remove a page signed by the Israeli ambassador from the town's visitors' book in response to the illegal use of Irish passports by agents of Mossad in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.[15]

^http://www.cso.ie/census and www.histpop.org. Post 12991 figures include environs of Carrickmacross. For a discussion on the accuracy of pre-famine census returns see JJ Lee "On the accuracy of the pre-famine Irish censuses" in Irish Population, Economy and Society edited by JM Goldstrom and LA Clarkson (1981) p54, and also "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850" by Joel Mokyr and Cormac Ó Gráda in The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Nov. 1984), pp. 473–488.